This ideal introduction to Shakespeare is designed to engage today's students with a colorful and informative narrative enriched by abundant historical documents.

Unique sets of primary documents in each chapter give students firsthand knowledge of early modern culture, including maps and illustrations, excerpts from conduct books, sermons, playhouse records, facsimiles from quartos and the First

Covers the major topics essential to the study of Shakespeare including Shakespeare's life and work, the theater in Shakespeare's time, early modern social structures (family, class, and gender), the historical and political contexts of the plays, and everyday life in early modern England.

Thorough bibliography provides students with a convenient resource for locating additional materials and serves as an introduction to the most significant Shakespeare criticism.

A rich selection of new documents and illustrations. Chosen with the help of instructors from across the country who used the first edition, the second edition features more documents by women and other marginalized voices from the early modern period and a new set of documents on Shakespeare in performance.

New chapter on Shakespeare in performance introduces students to the great variety of productions of Shakespeare's works over the centuries and includes a selection of evocative performance photographs that help bring the history of performance to life.

Revised chapter on Shakespeare's language makes this difficult subject even more accessible to today's students and includes a rich variety of examples drawn from Shakespeare's most widely taught plays.

Annotated appendix of the most useful Shakespeare Web sites helps students find additional documents and illustrations and aids their research.

The Bedford Shakespeare Series Web Site includes links to the Web sites listed in the appendix, sample documents from the text, an index keying documents to Shakespeare's plays and sample syllabi and writing assignments.

This ideal introduction to Shakespeare is designed to engage today's students with a colorful and informative narrative enriched by abundant historical documents.

Unique sets of primary documents in each chapter give students firsthand knowledge of early modern culture, including maps and illustrations, excerpts from conduct books, sermons, playhouse records, facsimiles from quartos and the First Folio, passages from Shakespeare's sources, dress laws, popular ballads, and more.

Covers the major topics essential to the study of Shakespeare including Shakespeare's life and work, the theater in Shakespeare's time, early modern social structures (family, class, and gender), the historical and political contexts of the plays, and everyday life in early modern England.

Thorough bibliography provides students with a convenient resource for locating additional materials and serves as an introduction to the most significant Shakespeare criticism.

A rich selection of new documents and illustrations. Chosen with the help of instructors from across the country who used the first edition, the second edition features more documents by women and other marginalized voices from the early modern period and a new set of documents on Shakespeare in performance.

New chapter on Shakespeare in performance introduces students to the great variety of productions of Shakespeare's works over the centuries and includes a selection of evocative performance photographs that help bring the history of performance to life.

Revised chapter on Shakespeare's language makes this difficult subject even more accessible to today's students and includes a rich variety of examples drawn from Shakespeare's most widely taught plays.

Annotated appendix of the most useful Shakespeare Web sites helps students find additional documents and illustrations and aids their research.

The Bedford Shakespeare Series Web Site includes links to the Web sites listed in the appendix, sample documents from the text, an index keying documents to Shakespeare's plays and sample syllabi and writing assignments.

Russ McDonald (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) is the editor of four plays in the revised Pelican series of Shakespeare's plays and the author of Shakespeare Reread (1994), Shakespeare and Jonson/Jonson and Shakespeare (1988), and numerous articles on early modern theater, comedy, and opera. A celebrated teacher, McDonald has taught at Mississippi State University, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Rochester. He has been actively involved with the NEH-sponsored Teaching Shakespeare Institute at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., and he has also served as resident scholar, head scholar, and institute director of Teaching Shakespeare's Language.

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''The illustrations delight me. I love the visual representation of material objects. I also like the remarkably sane tone of the discussion regarding theory. I can send students to the book without cautions or conditions.''

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